Two Watches Owned By Elvis Presley On The Auction Block In May 2016

Two of Elvis Presley’s watches are being offered in the upcoming auction “Music Icons 2016,” held by Julien’s and taking place on May 21, 2016 at the Hard Rock Café in New York City.

Among Jockey underwear (lot 85), a broken cigar (lot 86), and even a Browning semi-automatic pistol (lot 92), which make this sale perhaps feel a bit more like eBay than auction, we find real treasure: two timepieces once owned by Elvis Presley.

In 1969 and 1970, Presley bought several dozen day-dates customized with his name inscribed on the bezel from his Memphis jeweler, Harry Levitch. I have seen two variations of these gold-plated Mathey-Tissots come up at auction in the last couple of years.

The one pictured here from 1969 has a two-tone day-date display, while the other version’s day-date indication is black lettering against a white background. The hour markers and hands of the other variation are also slightly different, though they remain within the same gold-and-black color scheme as this one.

These timepieces were subsequently supplanted by the legendary TCB (“taking care of business”) necklaces.

Estimated at $10,000 to $20,000, this watch comes with a certificate of authenticity verifying that it had been part of the Jimmy Velvet collection, the “largest collection of authentic Elvis Presley items in the world.”

It was last sold as part of the “Elvis Presley Memorabilia” auction by Butterfield and Butterfield in association with Bonhams on October 6-7, 1995.

The inside back of the case is engraved with a personal message: “To — Elvis From Michele.” Presley later gifted the watch to his father, Vernon, who had an uncredited cameo in the comedic film Live a Little, Love a Little.

The Waltham, which is estimated to sell between $6,000 and $8,000, is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the estate of Vernon Presley as well as a letter of authenticity from the estate of Sid Doan, former owner of Sierra Sid’s Casino in Sparks, Nevada.

Certificate of authenticity for the Mathey-Tissot Day-Date once owned by Elvis Presley (photo courtesy Julien’s auctions)